Page 20 - #184 September 2023

Kalverstraat, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Democratising Sustainable Fashion

Everything at C&A starts with purpose as they aim to inspire people every day to
look, feel and do good. They are creating a people-centric culture and purpose-led
organisation where everyone is empowered, valued and appreciated for who they are.
In this interview, RLI speaks with CEO Giny Boer about the history of the business,
how it has altered over its more than 180 years in existence and what the future holds.

ncorporated back in 1841, the origins of C&A in textiles run much to invest in our stores to optimise our customers’ shopping experience.
deeper and its relationship with clothing dates back as far as the In this way, we are building our “One C&A Growth Plan”, that puts
I1600s. Still family owned after six generations, C&A continues our customers at the centre of everything we do to better meet their
to adapt and innovate, just as it did when brothers Clemens and needs,” explains C&A CEO Giny Boer.
August Brenninkmeijer set out to make their name 182 years ago. The “In addition, we constantly evaluate our store portfolio to ensure we
pioneering spirit that drove the company’s founders in the 19th Century deliver what our customers want, where they want it. Customer needs,
is still helping to transform the fashion industry to not only do less bad, market conditions and the health of the local retail sector are important
but more good. considerations in this respect, allowing us to evolve with the market.”
Today the company operates from almost 1,300 stores across the As a consumer-obsessed brand, they want to be where their
17 European countries of Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, customers are to ensure their needs are met. They have developed
France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, partnerships with marketplaces such as Amazon and Zalando and they
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. In the past have a pilot project in France of shop-in-shop units. They continuously
18 months, the business has been modernising its store fleet all across evaluate opportunities for development and they have expansion plans
Europe and now more than 1,180 stores have been upgraded to offer a across their European territories, particularly in countries such as Poland,
more modern look and feel for customers. Romania and Italy.
“Even with the increasing importance of e-commerce, we continue “Part of our transformational journey is to move away from the

All pictures in this row are of Leidschendam, Netherlands